"12. All entries for each quarter are final. No revisions are accepted."

I read this to mean that revisions are only prohibited once is the submission is active.

I've significantly revised an honorable mention from two years ago, so just wondering if that would be ok?

I think that just means you can't submit an entry and then try to resubmit it to the same quarter two days later when you realize "Crap, I need to change XYZ!"

If a person offend you, and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. ~ Mark Twain2015, Q4: R2016: SF, n/a, SHM, SHM2017: SHM, n/a, F, R2018: HM, ?

Peony is right. When you hit Submit on a quarterly entry, it can't be revised and resubmitted that quarter.

There is no restriction on resubmitting the same story the following or subsequent quarters. The general consensus on the Forum advises against submitting the same story again. I'm included in the violators of the consensus, thinking I had a great story if I could just...No. I received a second R for my trouble.

I am aware of one revised story that went on to take second or third, however, so polishing up an HM might work. On another thread (not going to look it up) one of the forum crawlers paraphrased a Dave interview in which he noted that HM's are 1) Stories that hold his attention throughout (i.e. he reads the whole story) and 2) Are missing essential element/s, preventing them from rising higher.

Having a readable story is great! Addressing the flaws requires trusted, fairly knowledgeable readers or personal editorial skills. To brush up the latter, I suggest The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know by Shawn Coyne.

For Q3 last year, I did submit a revised HM which ended up netting a Semi-Finalist. However, I'd waited three and a half years between the HM and that resub. I'd also known back then that there were major issues with the ending. So after letting it sit for over three years, and then taking another look at it, I had a really good idea of how to fix the problems with it.

I've also had story's net HM's here that I'd never resubmit. Looking back at them, I can see they are fatally flawed, and it would be a waste of time to try to fix them.

So some times it might make sense, sometimes not. There's no one-sized fits all answer to whether or not to revised and resubmit a story.

I'd also like to point out that an R or HM can sometimes also indicate 'not a good fit for this market' rather than 'this story needs to be revised/rewritten'. My first pro sale was a story that received a straight up R from this contest. I had faith in it as written though, so I didn't try to revise it, but immediately turned around and subbed it to IGMS who ended up buying the story.

greenroom wrote:For Q3 last year, I did submit a revised HM which ended up netting a Semi-Finalist. However, I'd waited three and a half years between the HM and that resub. I'd also known back then that there were major issues with the ending. So after letting it sit for over three years, and then taking another look at it, I had a really good idea of how to fix the problems with it.

I'd also like to point out that an R or HM can sometimes also indicate 'not a good fit for this market' rather than 'this story needs to be revised/rewritten'. My first pro sale was a story that received a straight up R from this contest. I had faith in it as written though, so I didn't try to revise it, but immediately turned around and subbed it to IGMS who ended up buying the story.

Ok, good to know! This HM was a few years back, so it's changed significantly as I've grown as a writer. I'll discern a bit more before subbing. And I have also had an R that I was able to sell too! It's all about the editor. :)